In neighborhoods across the city, residents are taking matters into their own hands when it comes to illegal dumping in their bins - by closing the gates on them.

What began as an effort to deter rats has become a way to keep strangers from using their private bins as a community dump.

Resident Celia Kutcher says the frustration is constant.

“There’s candy wrappers, and like Chinese food containers, not even in bags, so this is people walking by,” she said.

The problem has plagued the community for years. Passersby tossing trash into residential bins has left residents to deal with overflowing garbage, rising rat populations and sanitation issues they never created.

“I feel like it’s disrespectful to the neighborhood,” said Tim Barker, another local resident. “Because somebody’s going to have to pick that up. Nine out of ten times, that’s going to be me.”

Overflowing bins often lead to trash spilling into the streets and clogging storm drains—something Kutcher says has gotten worse.

“A lot of the storm drains are filled with garbage and crap so that nothing can drain out correctly,” Kutcher explained. “And there’s literally, I think, one trash can.”

That may soon change. A project that was first piloted in West Harlem - one Mayor Eric Adams' called a "success" for Community Board 9 - is now making its way to Brooklyn.

This follows what Mayor Adams says led to a decrease in the number of rat sightings. He also says that 311 calls have dropped for nine straight months.

On Monday, Mayor Eric Adams and Acting Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan unveiled a new initiative to roll out

"Revolutionary Empire Bins" in Brooklyn’s Community District 2, beginning with schools in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.

“Every building with more than 30 units will receive at least one Empire Bin for their trash,” Lojan said. “And every building with 10 to 30 units will have a choice. These bins are sturdy, rodent-resistant, and locked.”

The DSNY says next year, heavily populated residential buildings across the entire district will have them, including in Fort Greene, downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, Fulton Ferry, Dumbo, Vinegar Hill, Boreham Hill and Clinton Hill.

The bins are part of a larger city effort to phase out the use of unsightly black trash bags left curbside and clean the city clean. Instead, garbage will be stored in secure containers that help keep pests out, and the streets sanitary.

Beginning on Wednesday, teams from the Department of Sanitation will begin informing property owners and building managers of the changes. Lojan says the city’s containerization plan will expand to even more neighborhoods starting next year.